Friday, July 3, 2015

My summer session will start next week. Before that, I wanted to do something that I really enjoy.
Something that is related to WW2, involving model building. But, remember that I am a poor university student who needs to save money desperately.

Plastic models always cost money and time. Moreover, I need proper equipment to build a fine plastic model. Well, I did not want to buy any of those tools for this just one-time model building. What I found on online was that paper models do not cost too much money, and those do not need any professional tools.

I went to Wal-mart to get durable and thick printing papers. A lot of people already in this area of the paper model recommended getting any paper that is near 100 grams per square meter. Higher the number, the paper gets heavier and thicker. When I went to the Wal-mart, I found several papers from 75 (normal papers we use) to 200 gpm. I chose 200 gpm because when I touched the papers, it was not really too durable that I cannot fold or anything. Instructions on online warned that if I get too high gpm papers, it will be challenging to fold or roll papers. It seemed like this paper I got will not have any such problem.

Not only following the instruction from the paper model, I also looked at other people's work.
http://www.ukpapermodels.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=443
This person made a really fine Panzerfaust 30

I decided to put a toilet tissue roll into the main body. However, I still needed something that can hold the body very strong, or at least keep the shape of the body consistent. To do so, I needed something that can fill in the body and then solidify.

So, I went to a hardware store to get a 'Foam Spray.'

This is normally for sealing any leaking holes or something by 'expanding!!!'
Employees at the hardware store said that it won't work at all. They continued to recommend me to get something like PVC pipe and simply cover it with this paper model. Well, I did not want to. I knew that this will work, and I was believing that!

As soon as I came back to home, I sprayed into failed body part of Panzerfaust 30.
This was a failure because I was trying to make this with 75 gpm papers. It could not keep its shape at all. However, when I sprayed inside of the body and sat it for about half an hour, I found that the result is amusing.

As the foam expanded, it filled inside of the body really good and brought its shape back!

Also, the durability of the foam was not so bad. I could still feel a bit of cushion when I squeeze the body. However, this was the perfect method of reinforcing the paper model.

I sprayed inside of a successfully completed main part and let it sat.

Meanwhile, I started to build a warhead and trigger set.

When I came back to check the main part, the result was like this.

You really cannot tell how much foam spray is needed to feel in the part.

Simply cut the excessive foams.

And then just assemble everything together.
Because I did not want the printing on the paper gets wet and mess up, I spray painted the Panzerfaust 30 with a clear acrylic sealer. This will create a very thin layer of acrylic on all surfaces. I can even bring this to outside when it is raining!